Growing Pains
by Team Cullen Boys
Summary: 16 year old Edward Cullen is in need of a car, Chief Swan offers him one... but only if Edward can get the Chief's daughter to break up with her no-good boyfriend. Love and laughs. All-human
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

"Hey dad, you never told me how you and mom met," my daughter announced at the dinner table of her engagement party while her friends and family surrounded us at a large banquet style dinner table. Almost immediately the entire room fell to a quiet hush as they all realized we never really proclaimed the story.

"I'm sure you don't want to hear it tonight of all nights" I differed while I watched my brother and sister and the end of the table chuckle and encourage us to tell the untold story.

"Please daddy" she pleaded innocently with those big brown eyes that mirrored Bella's exactly and I couldn't resist. "I really want to know, after all you've lasted this long. It's only fitting that I know how it all began."

I turned to Bella for a confirmation because without her approval I know I would be in the doghouse for months after telling this story to an entire audience. She nodded her head slightly and said, "Why don't we all go into the living room for story time and wine then, this is a long one."

* * *

June 20, 2004

"It's so mine" I told Rose as we stood in the garage looking at moms old Mercedes. Dad had gotten her a new car for Mothers Day and her old one—which really isn't that old sat in the garage collecting dust all summer.

"It is definitely mine" Rose affirmed hopping into the drivers seat.

We had been standing here for the last twenty minutes arguing about this, over which one of us was going to receive this car for our shared birthday tomorrow. My twin sister Rosalie swore it was going to be hers but I begged to differ.

I know what your thinking, _I didn't know you had a twin Edward. _Well that's because Rosalie and I are absolutely nothing alike. We shared a womb together for nine months and I couldn't stand her then so I wrapped an umbilical cord around her neck. Just kidding! Jeez, no one ever finds that funny. Anyways back to my sister. She was a nuisance at the very least, always taking much too long in the bathroom and complaining about everything.

She had my dad—Carlisle—wrapped around her little pinky finger and she knew it. She was a master manipulator; she has been since she was like 3.

With beauty comes innumerable power. You see Rose by many subjective scales was considered "beautiful" and she knew it. She had this way of controlling men, my father included, into doing whatever her heart desired (she is a vital part of my story mind you, but we'll get to that later). Anyways I was the exception, Rose couldn't manipulate and control me. I saw her when she looked like crap and I knew she wasn't a "natural blonde" as she so claimed to be.

"I have a higher GPA than you and Jasper combined" I retaliated. "Why would they give you a car when you have done absolutely nothing to deserve one?"

"Because they love me more" she said plainly.

I couldn't argue with that one. Rose had dad whipped. Mom on the other hand was impartial to all of us.

"Come on Edward, get in the passengers seat" she smirked. "You'll be spending most of your time their anyways."

Who would know that when morning broke and mom made us our traditional blueberry/chocolate chip pancake breakfast—blueberry for Rose, chocolate for me—that she would be right.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted when dad handed Rose the car keys in a perfectly wrapped box.

"We didn't forget about you son" dad said and handed me an envelope.

Inside was a plane ticket and itinerary for next summer to be spent at a university in the UK… joy. Rose gets to drive around town while I get sent to math camp.

"Thanks" I muttered tossing the envelope on the table.

"Thank you daddy, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rose squealed jumping up and down and throwing her arms around dad shoulders.

"Why do you look so unhappy Edward?" my mom asked with her arm on shoulder.

"Why do I look unhappy?" I repeated her question as if it wasn't plainly obvious. "Because Rose got a car!"

"In all fairness" dad began, as if this was even remotely fair to begin with. "Jasper didn't get a car for his sixteenth birthday."

He was right Jasper didn't get a car but instead had to work for an entire year to afford a beat down Honda that was one hundred years old and smelled like mothballs—dad said it built character… perhaps, but it was the character of an asshole.

"Then why does Rose get a car for _our_ birthday?" I asked because this really was not adding up in the least bit.

"Because she's a girl, she cant be walking around town at night someone might snatch her" dad argued.

"Are you kidding me? Rose has biceps of steal and a black belt in karate! Who in their right mind is trying to snatch her?" its me who they should be worried about. With no muscle definition at all and a scream of a "prepubescent girl" as Jasper put it I was naturally in more life threatening danger than her.

But the parentals (more so dad) didn't see it that way and Rose flaunted her keys in my face for weeks and I hated her for it. Granted she was only obligated to drive me to and from school, all other activities were completely left up to her discretion.

So now I was on the job market. I spent my 16th birthday looking through the employment ads and trying to find some kind of work so I wouldn't have to walk to my best friend Riley's house everyday. I found out that my neighbor was looking for a cat-keeper, which might be an option if I want to die, literally, because I am allergic to cats. Also the local diner was looking for a busboy, which might be an option if I a wanted to die, socially, because everyone at school ate there. All in all the pickings were slim in a small town like Forks and as I walked from the drugstore where I picked up a bag of M&Ms as my own now belated birthday present to myself a car pulled up next to me.

Not just an average car, mind you, a police cruiser.

The passenger's window was rolled down and Chief Swan stuck his head out and said "ain't no sense in walking, get in son."

Not wanting to argue with a man who carried a gun on a daily basis I did as I was told and got inside.

"Happy late birthday Cullen" he started.

"Um—thank you sir" I stuttered. Let me give you a little history on the ol' chief and myself. We weren't friends. We weren't acquaintances. In fact I was surprised he knew my name. Chief scared the shit out me. He hated my brother first and foremost because he was always getting into trouble but he loved my sister, because like I mentioned before she has a way with men. But as for me, I was the forgotten Cullen. And I was content with that when it came to Chief Swan because you certainly didn't want to be on his hit list. He could make your life in this small town living hell—as he did with Jasper and his friends. So him giving me a ride was kind of a big deal.

"I hear your looking for a car."

"Where'd you hear that?" I asked.

"Does it matter? It's the truth isn't it?"

"I suppose," I muttered wondering how he came across that information.

"A cheap car right?"

"More than likely."

"What do you think about this car?" he asked tapping the dashboard.

"Um—it's a nice car" a little ostentatious.

"The station is doing away with these old cruisers and investing in the new Dodge Charger which means I'll have to sell this trusty vehicle, and I was hoping to sell it to you."

"Me?" I shouted but it came out like a girlish squeal—fuck puberty. "Me?" I repeated after clearing my throat and adding some much needed bass to it. But Chief chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Why me?"

"Because I have an assignment and I need a partner, a young, smart partner with a 4.0 GPA."

"Actually it's a 4.2, my honors credits just rolled over" I corrected him but then realized how nerdy that sounded and added. "What's the assignment? Need me to go undercover and investigate drug trafficking in the high school halls?"

"Um, no—definitely not. This matter is much more intimate."

"Chief I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with where this conversation is going—" I stated backing myself towards the door.

"God Cullen for a smart kid you sure are an idiot," Chief Swan said and tried not to take offense to that but… too late, I did.

"I would do anything for my baby girl. I would kill for her if need be, heck I've even thought about it on a few occasions…" for a second there he scared me as I saw his hand twitch towards his gun. "Anyways, she's got this boyfriend, Jake who is bad news in every possible way but she wont listen to me. Which is where you come in."

"I'm not following you Chief."

"She won't listen to me but perhaps she'll take to someone her own age. You know my daughter Bella don't you?"

"Yeah she's my sisters best friend" and the hottest girl in the 10th grade, maybe even the whole school.

That was one of the perks of having a "hot" sister, she had hot friends. But it was not like they paid me any attention. To them I was Rose's other brother, the nerdy one who played video games, didn't brush his hair, and wore thick framed glasses. Yes, I was often referred to as the _"other brother" _in many cases. Within my family everyone had an achievement, a claim to fame if you will. My brother was the cool kid, the football and baseball star, the perfect guy. My sister was "hot" (what else does she need to do?) and she was also a cheerleader. My dad was a widely acclaimed surgeon and my mom has been the holder of "Seattle's Green Thumb" award for the last 7 years, which really meant she was a stay-at-home mom to beat all other stay-at-home moms. You see my problem? My family was perfect and I was the blemish to ruin it all. Although my mom says I'm special.

"Oh yeah, I forget your Rosalie's twin, she's a good girl" see what I mean? Forgotten Cullen. "But I need you to break up Bella and Jake."

"I cant do that" there were many reasons I couldn't do that, the main reason being that I was _invisible_ to Bella. "It's unethical."

"When it comes to my parenting there is very little that is unethical. I need you to break them up and I promise I will sell you this car on the cheap."

How cool would that be though? To ride around town in a police car, it would be awesome! But I couldn't mess with Bella. Her boyfriend was goliath!

"Chief Swan—"

"I don't want to hear another word Edward. You'll help me out, I know you will, don't want to end up like Jasper right?"

I gulped probably a little too loud.

"No sir."

"Good, make sure this remains between the two of us. Wouldn't want my baby girl thinking I was a tyrant" he said and stopped the car. I hadn't noticed but somehow we ended up at my house.

I got out of the cruiser, unlocked my front door, and walked up the steps to my bedroom thinking I had signed my soul to the devil—which in this case was the Police Chief of Forks, Washington.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and subscriptions! It really means a lot! **

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up... I had an english essay on Hawthorne which monopolized my free time. But to my new readers I typically never take this long to update. **

**Anyways back to the story, glad you all like it! If you have any suggestions please let me know, I love writing what people like to read, what can I say I'm a people pleaser. **

* * *

August 13, 2004

Summer was almost over and I had accomplished nothing in the efforts of getting Bella to break up with her boyfriend. And this is not because I was a bad spy, this was because Bella was gone for the entire summer. According to Rose she was spending the summer with her mother and her new stepdad in Arizona and would be back before school started. Of course within the first five minutes of her reaching Forks she had to be reconnected with Rose, her best friend.

I opened the door when she rang the doorbell and Bella completely bypassed me—no surprise there, invisible remember?—and ran into Rose's arms screaming and jumping like only two best girl friends do.

"Omg your hair is so long now!"

"I'm so jealous of your tan!"

Comments like this went on for the hour or so as the two of them fell on the family room couch and gabbed until their mouths fell off.

"Have you seen your schedule for classes?" Rose asked.

"Yeah I brought it with me, please tell me we have something together" Bella crossed her fingers and pulled out a piece of folded paper from the back pocket of her short shorts.

As they compared schedules there was an underwhelmed aw that emanated from the family room to where I sat in the kitchen meaning they had no classes together.

"Why in the world are you taking AP Bio?" Rose sighed.

"Because I'm trying to get into a good college. They look at that kind of stuff."

"That really sucks though. Biology first period? Yuck!" Rose blanched.

My eavesdropping on my sister has proven to be fruitful in my quest for a car. Why? Because Bella and I had first period AP Bio together. Which was great! Perhaps I could talk to her and convince her to somehow break up with her cool, tall, handsome, motorcycle riding boyfriend Jacob Black… as if she would ever listen to me.

* * *

August 15, 2004

"Jeez Rose can you hurry up were going to be late" I shouted banging on my sisters bedroom door on the morning of the first day of school.

I had three options this morning for getting to school. The first was the bus. Which I was hesitant to take now because I am a sophomore now. The second was to ride with my brother Jasper in his stink wagon at the crack of dawn. Some mornings he had conditioning before school which meant I would have had to wake up two hours earlier and have waited around for school to start, not happening. Which leaves me with my last and final option, riding with Rosalie Cullen. It seemed like a completely viable option until now as she took thirty extra minutes changing outfits again and again and again!

"Mom! Have you seen my corduroy miniskirt from Abercrombie?" she shouted from her room ignoring my request for her to move faster than a snail so I wouldn't be late for school.

"It's in the laundry room Rose, and you need to hurry before your late" mom vouched for me.

"Thank you" I muttered under my breath and went downstairs to wait on her.

Mom was in the kitchen clearing out the remains of breakfast and dad was at the kitchen table with the newspaper in one hand and coffee in the other.

"I swear if she doesn't hurry up I'm going to take the keys and leave her. Seriously she's changed outfits 48 times already!" I exaggerated taking a granola bar from the pantry.

"She's just excited for her first day" my mom rationalized.

Excited my foot. I was not going to tarnish my perfect attendance record because Rose can't decide which corduroy mini skirt to wear.

"How do you think this semester is going to go son? AP Bio right? Have you thought some more about a medical career?" my dad asked as I waited for Rose.

"Dad I'm only 16" I reminded him.

"I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was 12."

Jeez. He never asks Jasper or Rose what they want to do. I guess that was one of the downfalls of being the smart kid.

After five minutes of dad trying to persuade me to become a surgeon Rose finally came downstairs wearing the exact same outfit she originally had on at 7:00 this morning. Are you absolutely kidding me?

"Aw you look cute" mom complimented Rose. Don't encourage her!

"Yes super cute, can we leave now?" I asked.

"Chill Edward were leaving, you cant rush perfection" she flipped her hair in my face and I rolled my eyes and tried to get her hair out of my mouth. "Bye daddy have a good day at work" she kissed his cheek and again I rolled my eyes.

"Goodbye princess have a great first day" of course dad fell for her fake kindness, he always did.

I said goodbye to mom and we were finally in the garage backing out to leave.

"If we are late for the first day Rose I swear—"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch Edward. We wont be late" she assured me and pressed her foot down on the gas pedal as hard as she could and we were suddenly flying. We were racing past the trees so quickly it almost made me sick. Rose was an awful driver. Literally. She drove at a minimum of 60 miles per hour. I don't know how she got her license… actually I do. Her driving instructor was probably a man and all she had to do was bat her eyelashes, no driving required.

Normally I would be upset at her outrageous driving but today I wasn't because I wanted to get to school on time, that was until we heard the sound of sirens and the flash of red, white, and blue lights racing behind us.

"Shit" she muttered. And for good reason not only were our parents going to kill us (her), and our insurance would skyrocket, but dad said as soon as she got a ticket the car was gone (which probably meant it would be mine—still unsure about that though). So when I saw the cop behind us I was actually kind of happy because Rose would finally be in trouble and I would get the car.

"Pull over" I told her and she reluctantly did so.

"Oh my god I think I'm having a heart attack" she said clutching her chest and was hyperventilating.

"Calm down Rose, its not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" she shouted. "Mom and dad are going to kill me! Oh my god I'm going to die before going to prom!"

Ladies and Gentlemen: Rosalie Cullen's top priority.

We both jumped out of our seats when the officer tapped on the window. When she turned and saw the young officer Rose had a quiet smirk on her face and all nervousness was set aside.

"I got this" she mouthed and rolled down the window. "Is there a problem officer?"

"Do you know how fast you were going young lady?"

"Well I understand I was going a bit over the speed limit—"

"The speed limit was 55 and you were going 80 that's more than a bit" the officer told her.

"Yes but my brother here is a honor student and today is the first day of school and I really didn't want him to be late. Do you think you can just let us off with a warning? Please sir, I promise I wont speed again" I heard her sniffle and for the third time today I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.

"Okay okay um don't cry, let me run you license and registration."

She dug in her purse and pulled out her driver's license while I handed her the registration from the glove compartment.

While the officer was back in squad car Rose was fixing her makeup.

"Has my mascara run?" she asked.

"I don't know what that is but you look fine" I muttered knowing that she wasn't going to be reprimanded in the least bit because like I've said numerous times before, Rose had a way with men.

And of course I was right. Rose was let off with nothing more than a verbal warning and after a five minute hiatus we were back on the road to school. Rose was proud of herself and I said nothing as I sat back and loathed my twin sister.

Eventually we got to school with only a few minutes to spare which meant I was running down the halls to make it to my biology class on time.

By the time I got there the bell had already rung and I was sweating bullets through my American Idiot Green Day concert t-shirt—a birthday present from the parents since I didn't get a car they thought concert tickets would suffice (I will admit that it was a pretty awesome concert though).

"Starting off the year late aren't we?" Mr. Banner said as I clambered through the door out of breath and wet with pit stains.

"Uh, sorry Mr. Banner my sister got pulled over this morning and—"

"I don't need to hear your life story, I've already gone through roll call you must be Edward Cullen then?"

"Yes sir" I gulped trying to regain my breath, I should really workout more often.

"Cullen… Cullen… are you related to Jasper?" he asked.

"Yes sir."

Mr. Banner just scoffed. Great. I was going to be compared to Jasper for the rest of the year. That's just great.

"Mr. Cullen your lab partner for the year is Eric Yorkie, please take a seat at lab station 3" Mr. Banner said and I took my seat next to my friend Eric.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up" Eric whispered. "I put you as my partner but you weren't here, I would have put Angela if Bella didn't get to her first."

When he said that there was a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to be faced with the stunning Isabella Swan. She was like a goddess. A goddess of staggering proportions. She had gotten a hair cut so her long brown hair was trimmed a little shorter than usual and fell right beneath her… boobs. I tried not to stare at them but jeez the Arizona sun had transformed her once raisins into now fully ripe grapefruits. They were glorious.

"Did Rose really get pulled over?" she asked twirling her pencil.

"Huh?" I was hypnotized by her ripe grapefruits and enchanted by the way her cherry red lips moved with a sudden ferocity that enticed me to grab them with mine. I was so awestruck that I didn't notice the actual words that came out of her mouth.

"I said did Rose really get pulled over?"

"Oh um yeah. She was speeding" I answered.

"That's rich! I swear Rose is going to lose her car before Thanksgiving!" she laughed and it sounded like an angel singing.

Bella was the girl every guy wanted to be with but Bella obviously liked bad boys. But the thing was she wasn't a bad girl. She was crazy smart and had so much going for her. Why would she settle for a guy so… beneath her?

I turned back around as Mr. Banner was giving us his instructions for an ice-breaker activity so we could get to know each other. In all honesty this was AP Bio with a class size of eight, we would all get to know each other in a week. But regardless Mr. Banner made us all stand up say our name, how old we were, name our favorite book, and share some interesting things we did over the summer.

"Hi I'm Angela and I'm 15 and my favorite book is basically the whole Harry Potter series. Um, over the summer I got to visit my aunt in Atlanta and that was really cool because uh we went to the Georgia aquarium which is the largest aquarium in the world and—"

"Hey Eric do you still have a crush on Angela?" I asked him as the introductions continued.

"Yeah I guess" he shrugged.

"You should be lab partners with her then. Maybe you can ask her to homecoming."

"Why do you not want to be my lab partner anymore?"

"No of course not! Your one of my best friends, its just that Riley and I kind of made a promise to get girlfriends this year, so I'm just trying to help you out" I offered. Really I was trying to help myself but if I could kill two birds with one stone then why not.

"Mhm maybe your right, but you'll have to be lab partners with Bella though" he said as if it was a bad thing.

"For you Eric I would do it" I slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi everyone! My name is Bella Swan and I'm 15 years old. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I had a great summer. Over the summer I stayed in Arizona and went to the Grand Canyon, I did a lot of fishing on some of the lakes out there, and I did a little jet skiing."

She could make everything sound so interesting.

"Mr. Cullen? Mr. Cullen!"

"Oh I'm sorry uh, my name is Edward—Cullen obviously and I'm 16 years old. My favorite books are Lord of the Rings novels and over the summer I got to go to a Green Day concert which was pretty awesome."

When I sat down I noticed Bella smiling. It wasn't your average smile. It was the smile of someone special. A smile that said 'I believe in you' even though I didn't really say anything worthwhile. That one small smile made me feel significant. I wasn't the Other Cullen and I wasn't just Jasper's brother or Rose's twin. I was Edward and I was relevant.

Of course this could be me just longing for attention because in the flash of a moment that flicker of hope was gone and I was then listening to Eric yak about his summer spent Poughkeepsie.

As soon as class was over Bella was out the door and the down the hall and I ran to try and catch up with her.

"Hey Bella! Bella!" eventually she turned to see who the maniac was that was shouting her name.

"Oh hey Edward what's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to be my lab partner."

"I already have a lab partner, Angela."

"Yeah well Eric kinda has a crush on her and wanted to know if you'd think about swapping. He would have asked himself but he's shy you know?"

"Aw!" she gushed clutching her heart as she walked over to her locker. "They would be so cute together. Of course we can swap."

"That'd be great—" I started to say when Bella was flipped around and suddenly wrapped in the arms of another man. Said man was Jacob Black. Now you see Jacob Black wasn't like Jasper. Sure they were both popular but in different kinds of ways. Jasper is popular because he is a sports star and has the personality of a late night talk show host. But Jacob… Jacob was popular by mystery. He wore black all the time, had shaggy unkempt hair (cool on him, but gross on me), and never smiled. He was like 8 feet tall (really only like 6'5 or something like that) and dangerously intimidating. He took part in recreational drug usage, listened to super dark eclectic music, and had even less friends than me (yet was still the envy and swoon of nearly every girl in this building). And finally he rode a motorcycle to school every day… without a helmet. I guess you could say he lived on the wild side. Well at least the wild side of Forks, Washington.

He was totally the anti-Bella type. But then again maybe he was the epitome of Bella's type because he was making out with her at the moment and I was standing here watching.

"Jake stop!" Bella swatted him away playfully. "Jake this is my lab partner Edward."

He didn't respond he just did that kind of cool "'sup" nod that only certain people could do and look cool doing. I wasn't one of those people.

"Do you know Edward? He's Rose's twin" she told him and he turned up his nose at her name and I chucked. I hated being referred to as Rose's twin or Jasper's brother. "Jake doesn't get along with Rose" she explained and I nodded, perhaps he wasn't so bad. "Anyways I'm going to get going. See you tomorrow Edward!"

I stood there for a minute and watched Bella walk down the hall as an armrest for Jacob's beefy arm and still tried to wrap my brain around their odd pairing.

"What are you staring at?" my brother whispered in my ear. I knew his voice before I saw his face.

"Uh—um not-a-thing" I stammered. I couldn't let him know I sort of liked Bella, he would never let me live it down. But I didn't like Bella. Surely I didn't. I mean she was hot that was obvious but I wasn't interested in her. She was so out of my league it would nearly be impossible for me to reach her. I just needed a car. That's all, a car not a girlfriend.

"Are you friends with Jacob Black?" I asked and followed my brother.

"Eh" he shrugged vaguely not answering my question. "What's up man!" I watched as he greeted nearly everyone in the hallway and they all smiled at him and completely ignored me. "I heard you and Rose got pulled over this morning."

"How did you hear that?"

"Small town, someone saw you guys on the side of the road" he laughed.

"Yeah well it wont be so funny when mom and dad find out."

"Don't rat her out. I know she's evil but trust little bro your time will come" he said and ran down the hall to catch up with some girl.

Jasper was always sprouting words of wisdom on me. But I had to disagree with him here. My cloak of invisibility would undoubtedly haunt me forever.

And then bell rang.

Shit. I was going to be late again. So much for perfect attendance.

* * *

**Anyone like the mysterious Jacob Black? What about Bella? Edward? Jasper? Carlisle? Anyone haha! **

**Leave a review and tell me what you think! Suggestions are greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again thanks for the reviews and subscriptions! It means bunches!**

**I worked really hard on this chapter and it's a little longer than the previous two but I hope you guys like it!**

**Special thanks to enapace for the suggestion!**

* * *

Chapter Three

September 28, 2004

My relationship with my parents was great. My dad although a little nerdy was awesome. He knew so much about everything that it was literally impossible for him to have awkward pauses in conversations (something I envied because I was prone to such awkwardness). Jasper and I called him "the enforcer" because he was the disciplinarian in our family and his word was typically law. But my mom was a saint. She made my lunch everyday (she even added notes on special days) and did my laundry (my clothes always smelled like a Hawaiian breeze). She was the sweetest woman in the entire world. All in all my parents were alright in my eyes, and I think I can say the same for Jasper. In the draw of parents I'd say we definitely lucked out with two of the best.

But Rose and my mom were complicated. Somedays they were fine and then suddenly they wouldn't talk to each other for weeks. It was a strange complex that my dad, Jasper, and I always shied away from. They were women, and women in essence were more complicated than polymer science.

I don't know much about girls but we had to take a sex ed class freshman year and I found out a few things about the opposite sex that surprised me. The main one being that women bled for a week once a month! How insane is that?

I soon put two and two together (really my dad put them together for me) and I came to the conclusion that there was one week per month that I should stay away from Rose. Actually it was a family decision that there was one week per month that we should _all_ should stay away from Rose.

Unfortunately this was that week.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" that ear piercing scream came from the second bedroom on the left that beautiful Sunday morning.

The whole family (excluding Rose) was downstairs eating breakfast and no one so much as flinched at her scream. It was the end of the month (Jasper and I had estimated this wretched time of the month to come more so at the end, so we were expecting this).

"You want to deal with it this time?" my mom asked my dad looking at him expectantly.

"I can't, she might start talking about… girl stuff" he shuttered. Ever since this event of the month started happening Rose has been on the bad side of both of our parents, which surprised me that even my dad couldn't tolerate his "little girl".

"Goodness Carlisle I cant rely on you to do anything anymore" my mom huffed and walked away.

"I'd hold off getting married if I were you boys" he muttered into his coffee.

That was for sure. Women were crazy.

Mom was gone for about ten minutes as Jasper and I scarfed down our food and went to the skillet for seconds.

Finally mom and Rose came downstairs and Rose had a sour look on her face, nothing strange there, but what was strange was that she was wearing Jasper's baseball cap low over her face. She sat down at the table in her designated seat across from me and next to mom.

"Not fair, what happened to the rule about no hats at the dinner table?" Jasper asked.

"Why don't you take off the sweater Jasper?" Rose quirked her brow and I nearly choked on my eggs in laughter. The night before Jasper fell through the door one minute before curfew with a neck full of hickeys. This morning he was wearing a oversized hoodie to conceal the bruise-like love marks. Lord only knows what girl gave him those… and if he had any diseases to go with them.

"It is a house rule" my mom repeated.

Knowing there was no arguing with my mom over etiquette Rose pulled off the hat and was too ashamed to look at us… and for good reason.

There was a single pimple lined perfectly in the center of her forehead. It was the size of Jupiter, it looked like a Cyclops!

"Oh my god what's on your forehead?" Jasper pointed at it. And I tried to contain myself but I just couldn't. The irony of the situation had me in stitches. The Princess had a pimple! I swear I've been waiting for this day since I was thirteen.

"Mom!" Rose cried.

"Is that thing alive?" I laughed.

"Seriously Rose you had my hat on over that crater?" Jasper pretended to throw up his breakfast. "You can keep it."

"Okay enough boys leave your sister alone" dad intervened.

"You guys are evil!" she shouted and ran up the stairs stomping her feet like a stubborn child and once she was finally gone Jasper and I fell out of our chairs in laughter! I was laughing so hard that it hurt and I couldn't breathe.

Rose stayed in her room all day.

September 29, 2004

Mom was having tea with some friends this morning so she left dad in charge of the morning routine of breakfast and making sure we get to school on time. For breakfast we ate PopTarts (something mom would never let us do, she was the kind that believed PopTarts were deserts not breakfast) and as for getting to school on time 2 out of 3 kids isn't bad right?

Rose was throwing a hissy fit not wanting to go to school because of her pimple, Jasper and I named it Zelda the Zesty Zit, great alliteration right?

"I am not going to school daddy! I am not!" she protested.

"Here take the keys and get to school. I'll deal with Rose" dad said tossing Rose's pink keychain my way. I just assumed when he said he'd deal with Rose he meant he would try to get Rose to come to school but would eventually give up and she would "stay home sick".

Imagine my surprise when I saw her at school sans makeup in her "Juicy" pajamas. Apparently dad wasn't dealing with her shit that morning and literally dragged her out of bed and dropped her off at the front door. Her little strike ended up with dad revoking her car privileges for a week, there was a reason we called him "The Enforcer".

October 4, 2004

"Our plants aren't doing anything" Bella said as we looked over our science project. We were analyzing magnetic fields in relation to plant growth, we had been working on it for the entire year and had very little to show for it.

"Maybe we aren't watering it enough" she mused staring at the plants intently as if her gaze alone was going to force the plants to grow.

"I think we're watering them just fine" I told her writing down our observations for the day.

"But they aren't doing anything at all."

"Some plants take longer to grow than others but if we overwater them they'll drown and never grow at all" I informed her and she looked at me weird. "My mom has a degree in botany I've picked up on a few things here and there."

"Oh yeah, I forgot Esme knows everything about plants" she said taking a seat next to me and watching as I wrote down notes on our project. "Has Eric asked Angela to homecoming yet?"

"Huh? Oh um, no I don't think so."

"He really should get on that. Time is running out. Homecoming is next week. If he's going to ask he should do it soon so she'll have enough time to get a dress. I've been dropping hints but I don't know, I'm always bad with playing coy without giving it away completely."

"I'm sure you giving it away would be the only way she would know because Eric is far too shy to ask her."

"I don't know why, she totally likes him."

"Really? Did she tell you that?" I asked.

"No, but its so obvious."

"How so?" I inquired just for the pure knowledge.

"Well she laughs at his corny jokes, she smiles at him a lot and giggles, sometimes she bites her lip—"

Oh. My. God. Bella liked me! She did all those things with me! I knew because I took special care to notice everything she did. Laughing at my jokes was a big one because no one laughed at my jokes besides myself.

"Anyways who is the lucky girl your taking to the dance?"

"You" I blurted out immediately and quickly covered my mouth. Shit. She stared at me oddly and cocked her head. "Uh—_you_ know I'm actually not going to homecoming."

"Aw, why not? It's going to be fun. I'm really excited to go, I got a fancy dress that cost like all of my allowance!" she gushed and I frowned.

"And your going with Jacob?"

"Yeah I cant wait to see him all cleaned up" she smiled brightly and looked up at me from her long thick lashes and I smiled tightly back her. Maybe trying to break them up wasn't such a good thing. She was obviously happy with him. Was it wrong to want to kill her happiness?

"Well I hope you guys have a great time then."

"We will!" she giggled. See? She did like me, she just didn't know it yet.

October 11, 2004

The homecoming dance was tonight, I wasn't going but my sister was. Jasper went by the mantra "once you've been to one you've been to them all" and decidedly chose not to attend homecoming this year but instead go to a couple of parties. My sister though was having a homecoming "pre-party" as she put it and she and her friends were getting ready together in her room. Her friends included Bella who was also my friend now. We had gotten quite close in the last couple of weeks and today when she came to my house she didn't pass me by as usual but she stopped and talked to me for a minute before Rose dragged her upstairs.

The six girls upstairs blared music from shitty boy bands and laughed for hours until finally their dates showed up. Me being the whip I was opened the door and took note of the guys sitting in the family room. There were only five guys… but there were six girls…

I counted again and realized Jacob wasn't here. He must be late. Putting on fancy clothes must be really difficult for him which would explain his tardiness.

About thirty minutes later the girls came down in various sparkling dresses. But my eyes were trained on Bella. She wore a strapless yellow dress and her hair was curled down her back. She was the prettiest one out of all of Rose's friends and would undoubtedly be the prettiest one at the dance.

"Oh!" my mother gasped and cried as she always did when any of her kids were dressed up (she did this every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter holiday). "You girls just look so beautiful! Carlisle get the camera" she shooed my dad.

"Where is Jacob?" Rose was the first to note his absence before she had even come downstairs.

"He hasn't gotten here yet, I'm sure he's just running late Bella. You know how boys are picking up corsages at the last minute" my mom patted her back.

But he wasn't _just_ running late. My mom had schlepped everyone outside for pictures, stalling for over an hour waiting on Jacob. It was already 8 now and the dance had started at 7.

"You guys go ahead" Bella told her friends after they waited on her for over an hour missing the dance themselves.

Rose looked hesitant. "Are you sure Bella, we honestly don't mind waiting with you. I'm sure something must have happened for him to be this late" she lied. Rose hated Jake more than I did but Bella really liked him so she was stuck trying to be a good friend.

"No I promise I'm fine. I don't want you guys to miss anymore of the dance. Go, please" she smiled softly but it was obvious as daylight that she was heartbroken.

After a few more urges Rose and the gang finally left and Bella stood on our front porch waiving goodbye to her friends as they went to have a night to remember.

My mom went outside to talk to Bella and I watched as my mother's words soothed her.

"I swear if a boy stood up my baby girl I would rip his head off" my dad spat as we watched mom through the window wrap her arms around Bella.

My parents thought of Bella as their fourth child because she was around us. When we first moved to Forks we didn't know anybody and Chief Swan came over to introduce us to the town. He brought with him little Bella who was the same age as Rose and they became friends immediately. Since Charlie was a single father finding childcare for Bella was difficult sometimes and my mom always had an open door policy in regards to Bella coming over—she was a stay at home mom after all. Sometimes the Chief would have to go on into the station in the middle of the night and he would carry sleeping Bella here at 3 o'clock in the morning no questions asked, and Bella would wake up the next morning in Rose's bed. This little routine went on until just last year when Chief finally let Bella stay home alone.

She's been apart of our lives for as long as I can remember and my mom had a special kinship with her that I didn't even understand. Maybe it was because Bella's mom was so far away (and in a different state every couple of months) that she just naturally gravitated towards the one woman that was always a constant in her life. Maybe not though… my mom always drew people in, that's where Jasper is said to get his charm from.

I could see my dad was obviously upset by this, but to be honest there wasn't too much he could do. He couldn't make Jake come here and take his own girlfriend to the dance. So we waited twenty more minutes until mom came back inside.

"Edward do you mind driving Bella home?" she asked.

"Is Jake not coming?" my dad questioned.

She shook her head sadly, "We tried calling his cell but he didn't answer."

"I can take Bella home" I offered grabbing my sweater from the couch.

"Thank you Edward."

I picked up the keys to Rose's car—which I was beginning to drive frequently without her knowledge—and headed out the door.

I looked down at Bella sitting on the steps of the porch in her pretty yellow dress with her head in her hands. She was so despondent and sad that I just wanted to hold her.

"Uh—um Bella? I was going to take you home…"

She looked up at me with the saddest eyes I have ever seen in my life. They were so full of hurt and pain and distress and she just shook her head. "Please, please don't take me home. My dad can't know he didn't come, I can't go home to Charlie he—he's going to wait up all night and ask all these questions—I—I—I cant—"

"Okay, okay" I said to stop her from talking in hysterics. She was gasping and talking so fast I had to backtrack on her words to keep up with what she was saying.

I offered her my hand and helped her up, I held open the car door for her and got into the drivers seat. I turned on the ignition and waited for a minute.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked her.

"Anywhere. Take me anywhere Edward."

I had to bite down the attraction I felt towards her when I heard her say those words because they weren't in the context I was thinking of. She wanted to escape but she was only using me as a getaway she didn't necessarily want to getaway _with_ me, there was a huge difference. But I did as she asked and I drove. I was kind of hungry, my mom spend the whole day helping the girls and all I ate were the finger foods she left on the kitchen island.

So it wasn't a surprise that we drove in silence for nearly 10 minutes until I stopped at the local diner.

"I don't want to be here" she whispered on the brink of tears knowing that everyone from school would be here in a couple of hours following the dance.

"I'm just ordering togo. Do you want anything?"

"Whatever you have" she said and rested her head on window.

I went inside and ordered two burger combos togo and was back out in fifteen minutes. I thought Bella had gone to sleep but her eyes were just closed as we continued our drive.

When I stopped the car she sat up and looked around disoriented. "The beach?"

"Yep, come on" I said grabbing the food and pulling a blanket from the trunk (dad made Rose and Jasper keep blankets in the trunk for emergencies, and tonight was an emergency for Bella at least).

She meandered steps behind me carrying her heels and her purse in her hands and a sorrowful look on her face. I laid out the blanket on the cool sand and set out our feast of burgers, fries, and milkshakes.

"Go ahead eat" I encouraged her diving into my burger.

She picked up a French fry and chewed it meticulously.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

I shrugged. "Have I ever been mean to you?"

"No but your being really nice to me even though I don't deserve it."

"Why wouldn't you deserve it?"

"Because I've never been exceptionally nice to you" she answered quietly. She has always been cordial to me but I think she was referring to the fact that up until a couple of weeks ago I was invisible to her. I had extreme middle child syndrome and I was trying to work this out with a therapist.

"But your still a person, no one deserves what happened to you tonight."

She didn't say anything but took a bite out of her burger and we ate like that for while. In absolute silence besides the crash of the water beside us.

"Can I ask you something?" I opened the envelope of conversation again.

"Depends."

"Why are you dating Jake?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I like him."

"Why?"

"Because I do. There are things about us no one will ever understand" she said defensively.

"But he treats you like shit."

"Have you ever thought that maybe it keeps me sane when I am put on a pedestal every day" she retaliated. I could understand that… to an extent. Being the Chief's daughter had to come with its own set of difficulties but that's life right? Life is full of that kind of stuff, and we were only beginning. If we were at the peak of life now, it is all downhill from here. We're too young to be this cynical.

"That's really fucked up" I shook my head at her comment.

"Lots of things are fucked up."

"Well when your tired of being treated like shit just remember there is someone that cares about you."

I was brazen but it needed to be said finally, more so for myself than for her.

"Wait… what? You care about me?"

"Yeah I've cared about you since I first met you."

"Oh…"

"Don't get a big head now, it doesn't mean I'm in love with you. I just care about you, you know?"

"Yeah. Thanks, I kinda needed to hear that right now."

We continued to eat our now cold fries and warm milkshakes and listened to water again. It was kind of soothing and rhythmic. I could have sat there eating cold French fries on the beach with the prettiest girl in school all night.

"I didn't get to tell you this before but you look really pretty tonight."

"Thanks Edward" she smiled her eyes showing a slight reflection of the full moon that hung over our head.

I pushed our garbage out of the way and laid down on the blanket with my arms out taking in the moon and stars and trees that surrounded us.

"Can you believe were only 25 minutes from town? I feel like were a lifetime away," Bella whispered still sitting up with her legs crossed at the ankle. She moved herself and laid down beside me. She was resting right next to me. Her head full of soft hair was nestled between my arm and my chest.

"I cant cry anymore" she said. "I've cried over Jacob Black so much that I honestly believe I cant cry anymore. I think that your body and your heart only allow you a certain allowance of tears for one person and after that it just dries up. I feel like I've reached that peak with Jacob."

I didn't reply but instead just lay there listening to her breathing and comparing it to mine and eventually changing my pattern of breath to match hers in rhythm. I don't know how long we stayed like that. An hour perhaps? Maybe longer but we did, and it was comfortable. Bella was the first one to move because I didn't want to let go.

"My mom got me this camera for my birthday a while back. She wanted me to take pictures of everything I'll ever do in high school because she said I'll never be as carefree as I am right now" she said going into her small purse and pulling out a purple camera. "I think that's why she leaves all the time. I think she's trying to regain the carefree life that comes with youth. Remake memories she missed out on" she mused thoughtfully.

God she was brilliant. I swear Bella was the only intellect I ever wanted to communicate with in my entire life.

"You cant remake memories but we can capture some tonight" I told her taking the camera. "Smile."

She gave me a tight smile that was kind but it didn't possess the Bella glow that originally drew me to her.

"Here lets take one together" she held out the camera and we positioned ourselves so that we were both in frame.

We ended the night like that, taking goofy pictures under the moon and laughing like hyenas at the funny faces we made. Bella was even brave enough to jump in the water for a bit but came running out when the icy cold water sliced her legs. And I laughed at her as she jumped out of the water screaming and hopping, doing her own little dance on the night of homecoming.

Her pretty yellow dress that she spent all of her allowance on was ruined beyond salvage by the saltwater but we still had our remembrances of tonight, our youth, and our future. But most of all I cherished our memories of tonight more than anything, and I would give up my allowance for the rest of my life to be able to hold onto them forever.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

**Posted the wrong chapter originally but this is the right one! Sorry for the confusion!**

October 13, 2004

Saturday night spent with Bella was incredible. Honestly I couldn't have dreamt anything better than what happened. I mean it sucked that she got stood up but if Jake wasn't a douche then I wouldn't have had that wonderful night with Bella. So it kind of evened out… at least it did in my head.

I wanted to call her on Sunday to see if she was alright but I didn't want to come off as creepy or anything so I didn't call her. But I was meaning to talk to her today during class with the hopes that we'd have an experiment but we didn't. Mr. Banner just lectured the whole time and gave us twenty minutes at the end of class to check on our plant project.

"Have you talked to Jake?" I asked as we worked together with our small plants.

"Yeah I talked to him yesterday."

I waited on her to elaborate but she didn't say anything so I asked "And? Does he have a reasonable excuse for what happened Saturday?"

"I'm not going to tell you" she pouted and turned her back to me.

"Why not?"

"Because I already know what your going to say. Your going to say I'm stupid for not breaking up with him."

I probably would say that… "How do you even know that?"

"Because that's exactly what your sister said."

"Rose? What does she have to do with any of this?"

She sighed and poured the water on our plants carefully. "She came over yesterday after I talked to Jake and asked me if I broke up with him for what he did and I said no and she said that I was stupid to stay with him and she didn't want to be friends with a stupid girl."

I let her words process for a minute. "Wait. So you and Rose aren't friends anymore?"

She shrugged. "I don't know if she meant it but she really hates Jake, so maybe. I'll find out at lunch I guess."

"So why didn't he show up?"

"He said he just didn't want to go anymore. That school dances were dumb and mentioned something about being a nonconformist. I should have known he wasn't going to come, he hates those kinds of things" she said despondently.

His excuse made me mad. You don't always get to do whatever you want, sometimes to do things because it will make other people happy. I don't like dances either but if Bella wanted to go with me I would never let her down.

…

"So how was your weekend?" Riley asked Eric at our lunch table later on that day. Everyday I ate lunch with my best friends Riley, Eric, and Angela. But our usual atmosphere had changed a bit since Eric and Angela were kind of a thing now.

"The dance was great!" Angela perked up. "They decorated the gym and probably went through 100 cans of air freshener to get rid of the sweat and dirty sock smell. You know Rose was voted Sophomore homecoming queen? Her dress was really pretty."

I didn't know who Angela was anymore. She had morphed into this girly-girl that she previously wasn't. Maybe being in a "relationship" with Eric just made her act all girly and weird. Whatever it was I didn't like it because Ang used to be cool. And so did Eric. Now he just kept looking at her with googly-eyes and holding her hand and doing "relationship" things. I could tell Riley was thinking the same thing as he rolled his eyes at the scene unfolding before us.

But Riley and I sat there and listened to them gush about the dance and how much fun it was and how we should have gone—as if we were going to go with each other.

"What did you end up doing this weekend?" Ang asked.

I already told Riley what had happened because he was my best friend but I don't know if Bella would really appreciate me sharing the worst night of her life with all my friends.

Speaking of Bella… she was heading my way with her lunch tray in hand and her backpack slung over her shoulder. The eyes of nearly everyone in the cafeteria trailed her path from the "popular table" over to ours. There was a social hierarchy in high school called the cafeteria, where you sat and who you sat with sort of labeled you. The jocks, the artsy drama kids, the band, the overachievers (my crowd), you get the picture. I think its safe to say that nearly every public high school was set up in this manner. Table hopping was a big deal here. Not so much when your moving up a table but moving down was like a punch to your social standing. And I hate to say it but, we were definitely a step down (more like a fall down) from where Bella usually stood.

"Is this seat taken?" she questioned standing next to me.

"Er—no go ahead" I offered moving my backpack so she could sit down. Riley kept nudging me with his fork and grinning like a total creep. I punched him in the arm warning him to calm the fuck down. And he wondered why he didn't have a girlfriend…

"Thanks."

"Bella you know Eric and Ang from bio but this Riley" I introduced her.

"Hi Riley, its nice to meet you" Bella smiled and waved.

Riley saluted her awkwardly and finally took a hint and pretended to talk to the lovebirds, Ang and Eric so I could have a minute with Bella.

"Why aren't you sitting with Rose?"

"She's mad at me. We never fight like this."

"She kicked you out of her table" I asked harshly.

If she did I swear—"No I left. She obviously didn't want me there and I don't want to be anywhere I'm not wanted."

"If you want I can say something—"

"Oh my gosh please no! Don't say anything you'll only make it worse. Dealing with girl fights is like walking in a minefield, it will be cool in a couple of days" she assured me.

October 29, 2004

But it wasn't cool in a couple of days. It had been almost two weeks and Bella had still been sitting with me at lunch. Of course I didn't mind, I liked having Bella as a lunch companion but she and Rose were honestly best friends. They both weren't the same without each other. Bella always seemed a little sadder and Rose was even bitchier without Bella in her life. I was loosing both ways.

The Homecoming incident seemed to have been forgotten in Bella's eyes though because she was still dating Jacob Black.

Today I ran into the chief at the diner and he reminded me that the new cop cars had just come in. It was a really good thing that Charlie didn't know about the homecoming debacle because if he did he would have killed Jake like he said when he drove me home over the summer. But I wasn't really doing the best job breaking them up. Perhaps it was because I cared about Bella's feelings too much to break her heart. I told Charlie this but he just laughed it off and said it was in Bella's best interest that she not be seeing Jake, and it was also in my best interest if I wanted wheels.

Did I really want wheels that bad though?

I thought about this as I _walked_ home from the diner.

My mom was outside decorating the house for Halloween with fake cobwebs and pumpkins when I got home.

"Hi sweetie" she greeted waving at me from the ladder she was on.

I waved back and marched up the steps.

"Why do you look so blue? It's Halloween, you should be orange" she joked.

"Nothing mom" I deflected and went inside the house.

Rose was in the family room with Lauren Mallory, I waved to them as I went to the kitchen for a water bottle.

"What are we going to do about Halloween? We don't have Bella to play Gretchen, we need a brunette!" Lauren whined. "No one is going to get our costume if its just the two of us!"

"We can always get Jessica to be Gretchen, she's sort of brunette" Rose suggested.

"She's so annoying!"

"What are you guys going as?" I asked coming back from the kitchen.

"We were _going_ to go as the Mean Girls, you know Rose was going to be Regina George and I was going to be Karen but since Rose has this feud with Bella we have no one to play Gretchen!"

I nodded and pretended like I knew what she was talking about.

"I see, I see. Here's a wild idea, why don't you just apologize and be friends again."

"I've been telling her that for like a week! There is no reason for you to drag the rest of us into your fight."

"You're my friend Lauren not Edwards, your supposed to be on my side."

"Not when your ruining _my_ Halloween! I really want to go as the Mean Girls and I promise you no one will get it if its just the two of us. Right Edward?" Lauren looked at me suddenly and I nodded again not knowing what I was nodding to.

"He doesn't even know what your talking about" Rose confirmed.

"Ugh Rose! I swear you've been so mean lately! Fine then, we can go without you."

"Who is we?" she asked condescendingly.

"Katie, Lauren, and I" she replied getting up to leave.

"You just said Lauren was annoying" Rose noted.

"I'd rather spend my Halloween with an annoying girl than you!" Lauren left after that with her cheeks flaming red.

Rose stomped up the stairs loudly and slammed her door for added dramatic effect.

I would have said something to her but Bella told me to stay out of it and she had more experience dealing with this kind of stuff so I listened to her and went to my room to turned to Green Day full blast.

November 7, 2004

I knew Bella told me to stay out of this but I just couldn't tolerate it anymore. Since Bella wasn't here to listen to Rose complain about girl problems, boys, and clothes she turned to me. A guy can only listen to inane girl gossip so much before it drives him insane! Trust me, I have reached that limit.

Which was why I had taken it upon myself to intervene.

When Bella showed up at after school to study for our upcoming test my plan was already in affect.

We were in the kitchen going over cellular division and photosynthesis when the plan really took action. Rose and Jasper had both gotten back from their respective sports practice. So of course they would head straight to the kitchen for a snack before dinner.

I could see Bella visibly tense when Rose walked in the room.

"What is she doing here?" Rose asked me refusing to look at Bella.

Jasper turned around and raised a brow not knowing what was going on between them.

"I was waiting for you to get here" I said getting up and pushing my sister towards the seat I was just sitting in.

"Someone care to tell me what the heck is going on?" Jasper asked throwing a hot pocket into the microwave.

"Rose and Bella haven't been talking to each other for weeks and I need them to be friends again because I can't listen to Rose gripe anymore" I explained.

"What does gripe mean?" Jasper questioned and I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the girls. They weren't facing each other and both of their arms where crossed over their chest in stubborn resilience.

"I can't believe you set me up" Bella spat.

"Don't get mad at my brother because he's trying to help. This is all your fault anyways" Rose responded.

"This is not my fault, I'm not the one that kicked you away."

"I only did it because your dating a douche."

"Why does it matter to you? You've dated so many horrible guys, you have no reason to judge me!" Bella said facing her now.

"Yeah but after they screw up I get rid of them like a sane person."

"Ugh, you've never given him a chance" Bella turned back around.

"I've given him plenty of chances but he's so into hating the world that he's bringing you down with him!"

That was a low blow and I felt the hit myself and shuttered when I saw the reaction on Bella's face as she gaped at Rose. But to be honest it was kind of the truth… I just never had the guts to say it.

"Okay—okay let's just solve this problem now. Rose are you willing to accept that Bella is dating Jake?" I winced at the words as they came out because I hated him as much as Rose.

"No."

"Okay let me put it this way then are you willing to give up your best friend for ten years just because of a guy?"

She didn't answer so quickly this time and pursed her lips.

"No" she said finally.

"So there is no reason for you two to continue fighting" I said and it was quiet in the kitchen until the microwave went off alerting everyone that Jasper's hot pocket was done.

"I really don't want to be mad at you anymore, I miss you" Rose admitted unfolding her arms and turning to Bella.

"Me too, friends again?"

"Of course, were best friends forever" Rose pulled her in for a hug and I breathed a sigh of relief that this really didn't blow up in my face like I expected it to.

"I'm sorry" they both said at the same time, then giggled.

"I'm more sorry, I've been an awful friend" Rose confessed.

"It's okay, I've been a pretty awful friend too" Bella clung to her even tighter.

"So what's going on?" Jasper whispered with his hot pocket hanging out of his mouth.

"Rose stopped talking to Bella because she won't break up with Jake" I muttered quietly so the girls wouldn't hear.

"Huh, all I know is that if Rose was dating Jake as long as Bella has he'd so be dead."

"Why she's had her fair share of bad boyfriends" I reminded him as the girls laughed and cried and caught up on each other's lives over the last three weeks. It made me smile to see them back together again.

"And have you ever wondered why her bad boyfriends leave her?" Jasper noted taking a bit of his hot pocket.

"I thought she broke up with them? Did you do something?"

"She's my baby sister, of course I did something. She says she's the one that breaks up with these guys but the truth is a little different" he insinuated. "Jake's a cool kid to party with but he's not going anywhere and he has a horrible temper, Bella's too serious about him. She's only 16 and she's acting like he's the end all, and he knows it, that's why he can treat her the way he does. He knows she's never going to leave him."

Jasper was really very perceptive but he didn't show it often. But what he did to Rose's boyfriends made me ponder a way I could perhaps get rid of Jake.

November 10, 2004

I parked mom's SUV in front of the auto shop and slid out of the car. Mom wasn't feeling very well and she asked me if I would take her car for an oil change and I obliged because I knew Jake worked sometimes at this little garage just outside Forks. I was hoping today he would be there otherwise I drove all the way out here for nothing.

"Can I help you" a tall guy that kind of looked like Jake came out of the garage and was wiping his hands on a towel.

"Yeah, I need an oil change" I told him looking around for Jake but not seeing him.

"Relatively easy, let me get my brother to help you. I'm Sam by the way" he went back into the garage while I waited outside for minute.

It really didn't surprise me when Jake walked out of the garage, he looked so much like Sam that it easy to believe they were related. I didn't know however that Jake had a brother.

"Oil change?" he asked coming up to me and I gulped out of nervousness as his intimidating figure came towards me and I realized how tall he was up close. I was tall for my age but jeez Jake was a giant! And his 24/7 scowl didn't make him anymore personable.

"Yeah" I replied deepening my voice to match his in tenor.

"Can you pop the hood?"

I went to the driver's side and pulled the little lever by the gas pedal to open the hood. Jake did some stuff with the stick thing and a paper towel, checking the oil levels I assume.

"Does this use synthetic?" he asked after five minutes of quiet work.

"I think so" was my response.

Jake left and came back with a fresh bottle of synthetic oil. He was finished in less than five minutes when he closed the hood.

I pulled out my wallet to pay him but before I did I said, "I think you should stay away from Bella."

"Excuse me?" he asked but I was sure he heard me but regardless I repeated myself if he needed clarification. "Who are you to tell me to stay away from my girlfriend?"

"I just think it would be in your best interest to stay away from her."

"Are you threatening me?" he asked hostile and my heart was beating faster than drums as beads of sweat lined my forehead and latched onto my hair.

"N—no" I stammered but he had his fist wrapped in my shirt and pushed me back on the car. He loomed over me like monster and almost made me shit my pants as I tried not to stare into his beady black eyes.

"Look here kid, I don't know who you are or why you think you can come here and threaten me but I think it would be in _your_ best interest if you kept away from _my_ girlfriend."

In that second I thought he was going to hit me and I shut my eyes in anticipation of the blow I knew would knock me out until I heard someone shout "What the hell is going on here?"

It was Sam who was running from the garage to intervene. He was there immediately and Jake released my chest allowing me the chance to breath for the first time since our conversation took a turn for the worse. Sam shoved Jake so forcefully that he fell backwards on the ground.

"I told you this was the last time" Sam shouted at Jake. "Your done get out of here."

Jake stood up, brushed himself off, and stalked away.

I tried to pay Sam for the oil change but he wouldn't accept it and kept apologizing for his brother's behavior and kept mentioning a temper problem.

My plan to intimidate him into breaking up with Bella like Jasper did with Rose's boyfriends blew up in my face and I think I would live to regret it when I went back to school on Monday.


End file.
